(Fort Saint John) The firefighters of Fort Saint John, British Columbia, and the provincial Forest Fire Fight Service was fighting against a fire that required evacuations Thursday evening, the city said.
Posted yesterday at 11:13 p.m.
A bulletin published on the city’s website at 6:04 p.m. indicated that the fire was located in the community forest of Fish Creek, on the northern outskirts of the city.
The bulletin asked the people evacuated from Rose Prairie Road and the Jones subdivision to go to the Pomroy sports center. He did not specify the number of people forced to leave their home or any other detail.
The website of the Provincial Forest Fire Service indicates that the uncontrolled fire was discovered on Thursday and that it covered an area estimated at 0.56 square kilometer at 7:32 p.m.
The alleged cause of the fire is a human activity.
The service indicated that 12 firefighters, two helicopters and tank planes worked alongside the Fort Saint John, Taylor and Charlie Lake teams.
Kelly Greene, Minister of Emergency Management of British Columbia, said in a publication on social networks that she was aware of a fire affecting the residents of Fort Saint John.
This fire is part of around twenty active fires in British Columbia on Thursday. The provincial government has warned that a combination of hot and dry and strong winds would increase the risk of fire in the south of the province.
It is one of the two fires classified as out of control, the other being a fire of 1.85 square kilometer which started with two separate fires about 30 kilometers south-west of Dawson Creek, south of Fort Saint John.
A publication on the social networks of the Forest Fire Service Thursday indicated that ground teams were trying to contain the fire with the help of helicopters.
He added that the winds in the southwest pushed the fire to Route 52 Nord, also known as the Patrimoine road, which was open to traffic in a single alternating track on a section between the Brassey and Bearhole Lake roads.
Meanwhile, the Royal Canada Gendarmerie (RCMP) (RCC) of Tumbler Ridge, about 120 kilometers south of Dawson Creek, said that a forest fire had destroyed its fiber optic connection and that telephone, cellular, radio and internet services were out of service.
A PRC press release indicates that anyone needing police help in the Tombler Ridge region will have to present themselves in person in detachment.
Three other fires in the same group in the Dawson Creek region are classified as “controlled”, said the forest fire service, which means that the flames should not spread beyond their current area.
A press release from the Ministry of Forests published earlier Thursday indicated that the forest fire service urged the population to postpone any open burning until the winds pass and redouble their prudence for any hinterland campsite.
The Minister of Forests, Ravi Parmar, explained that the weather conditions of the next few days “could open the way to dangerous conditions of forest fires throughout the province”.
He added that this period of the year presents the greatest risk of forest fires caused by human activity, most of which are “entirely avoidable”.
Open fire bans should come into force in the coming weeks.
